freedhardwoods Posted February 21, 2017 Report Share Posted February 21, 2017 I know the standard way of making a high-end drawer is to make the box with solid wood and slide the plywood bottom into a groove in the wood. How tight do you make the fit? Can you slide a sheet of paper along the drawer bottom into the groove? When making a cabinet case, the standard way is to glue the plywood sides and bottom to the solid wood of the face frame rails and stiles. Is there a reason it wouldn't work to glue the plywood bottom to the drawer box? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted February 21, 2017 Report Share Posted February 21, 2017 Drawer bottoms suffer the most damage from abuse. I think not gluing is at least in part so that repair can be made down the road. Just one thought. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted February 21, 2017 Report Share Posted February 21, 2017 Plywood doesn't expand/contract appreciably so it is best to leave it unglued in the groove so the solid wood can move. If you do glue it just put a dab on the center of one of the grooves - maybe the front panels. That will stop it moving but still allow the solid wood to expand or contract without affecting the plywood. If you are making it capable of being repaired so you can slide it in from the back then use some screws on the rear edge. If you glue the entire plywood to the solid wood sides you will find that the plywood may bend or crack so is not recommended. I like a nice sliding fit in the grooves. I am making some small drawers with 3mm thick plywood. I have routed a groove with 1/8" (3.2mm) router and that gives around 0.2mm to 0.3mm clearance which is about 7 to 10 thou ". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted February 21, 2017 Report Share Posted February 21, 2017 I make my drawers so the four pieces are done and fit nicely, then slide the bottom in and I either use a screw or nail on the bottom of a drawer into the back piece. When running the parts on the tablesaw for the dado, just raise the blade for the back and it will cut your back perfectly with no additional figuring. It's how Klausz does his, and I'd like to think he knows his stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pd711 Posted February 21, 2017 Report Share Posted February 21, 2017 The drawer bottom should float in the groove by a few thousandths. After the drawer box is assembled you can flip it over and run a bead of hot melt along the corners where the bottom goes into the groove. It helps the drawer stay square and lets the bottom expand a bit but is not a permanent glue joint as if you used PVA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gee-dub Posted February 21, 2017 Popular Post Report Share Posted February 21, 2017 Lots of answers. As to drawer boxes of solid wood, a solid bottom is also common in finer furniture. Clients get the traditional solid bottoms. Household furniture for my own use get plywood bottoms as you describe. I slide them in from the back and suspend the rear with a washerhead screw or two in slots as shown above depending on the width . . . How weird, I have no pictures of that(?) Solid bottoms float free, plywood bottoms get a dab of glue at the mid point on the three captured sides. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushwacked Posted February 21, 2017 Report Share Posted February 21, 2017 following for great info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freedhardwoods Posted February 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2017 I appreciate all the responses. I understand that replaceability is a big argument for leaving the bottom loose or slightly glued. I want to leave that out of the equation for the moment. I wasn't specific in my original post, but I am only talking about plywood bottoms for now. I think wood movement is the main argument for some of you. You could fill pages of charts on various species shrinkage rates, but a rule of thumb for native American hardwoods is 7% shrinkage across the grain and .15% lengthwise from green to kiln dried. Wood movement lengthwise after being kiln dried is basically nonexistent. Since plywood (basically) doesn't move and the drawer box doesn't move (lengthwise), is there any other reason not to glue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freedhardwoods Posted February 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2017 19 hours ago, Llama said: I make my drawers so the four pieces are done and fit nicely, then slide the bottom in and I either use a screw or nail on the bottom of a drawer into the back piece. When running the parts on the tablesaw for the dado, just raise the blade for the back and it will cut your back perfectly with no additional figuring. It's how Klausz does his, and I'd like to think he knows his stuff. 19 hours ago, pdacey08 said: The drawer bottom should float in the groove by a few thousandths. After the drawer box is assembled you can flip it over and run a bead of hot melt along the corners where the bottom goes into the groove. It helps the drawer stay square and lets the bottom expand a bit but is not a permanent glue joint as if you used PVA. 21 hours ago, TerryMcK said: Plywood doesn't expand/contract appreciably so it is best to leave it unglued in the groove so the solid wood can move. If you do glue it just put a dab on the center of one of the grooves - maybe the front panels. That will stop it moving but still allow the solid wood to expand or contract without affecting the plywood. If you are making it capable of being repaired so you can slide it in from the back then use some screws on the rear edge. If you glue the entire plywood to the solid wood sides you will find that the plywood may bend or crack so is not recommended. I like a nice sliding fit in the grooves. I am making some small drawers with 3mm thick plywood. I have routed a groove with 1/8" (3.2mm) router and that gives around 0.2mm to 0.3mm clearance which is about 7 to 10 thou ". Can you slide a sheet of paper along the bottom into the groove? That's what this question is about. The dealer I install for had a customer that wanted the drawer bottoms so tight that you couldn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted February 22, 2017 Report Share Posted February 22, 2017 7 minutes ago, freedhardwoods said: Can you slide a sheet of paper along the bottom into the groove? That's what this question is about. The dealer I install for had a customer that wanted the drawer bottoms so tight that you couldn't. No 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freedhardwoods Posted February 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2017 I have a tendency to get stuck on one thing and don't see other solutions. If the groove can be that tight, I don't care whether it's glued or not. @TerryMcK What time is it over there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted February 22, 2017 Report Share Posted February 22, 2017 09:16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freedhardwoods Posted February 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2017 5 hours earlier here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.